S. Korea confirm‎s the first case of ‘Wuhan pneumonia’

South Korea has confirmed the first case of a strain of coronavirus that has infected more than a hundred people in Wuhan, China. On Monday, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported that a 35-year-old Chinese woman who arrived at the Incheon International Airport from Wuhan on Sunday tested positive for the virus. Right after displaying symptoms such as high fever while entering the airport, she was immediately quarantined and got tested. “She is being treated in quarantine at a government-designated hospital,” the disease prevention center said.

With the first confirmed case, the center has upgraded infectious disease warnings to “yellow” and opened the central prevention center and local response centers. A 24-hour emergency prevention system will also be put in place over the Lunar New Year holiday.

Having first appeared in Wuhan, Hubei province, China, coronaviruses have been spreading across the nation even to Beijing, soaring confirmed cases. Against this backdrop, the sharp rise has been fueling fears of a major outbreak.

Separately, three cases have been confirmed for the first time outside Wuhan - two in Beijing and one in Shenzhen, Guangdong province where eight suspected cases have been also detected. Also in Zhejiang, a neighboring province of Shanghai, five suspected cases have been found.


Joo-Young Jeon aimhigh@donga.com · Wan-Jun Yun zeitung@donga.com